After our lovely dinner Wednesday night, we decided that we really loved Breaux Bridge and the Maison des Amis. We had breakfast at Chez Jacqueline, a nearby restaurant, as a part of our lodgings. The couple from Michigan were seated right next to us and we were joined by the gentleman from England. We had a great time talking, and the food was pretty wonderful, too. Afterwards, as I packed up, John took some farewell shots.
We drove down to Lake Martin just south of town. We had heard that this was a great area for birds, and we were not disappointed. There were lots of mysterious cypress trees ringing the lake, creating the wonderful Evangeline forest primeval atmosphere (to mix up a couple different Longfellow poems) that you want to see in the bayous of south Louisiana.
But the amazing thing were the sheer number of birds nesting there. From a distance we thought the pink birds were flamingos, but we later learned they were Roseate Spoonbills. It hardly matters. They were all beautiful.
After this, we just drove straight to Shreveport using Interstate 49. This is a fairly empty and surprisingly attractive stretch of highway. Once past Alexandria, the land starts to roll a little and urban sprawl gives way to mixed pine forests. There are few town along the way, and surprisingly little evidence of agriculture. By late afternoon, we were pulling to Sherry’s house.
Sherry and Tom Giles were excited to see us and we sat around and talked. Of course, this still being Louisiana, she had food ready. This is such an amazing house in the heart of one of Shreveport’s historical districts. They are doing minor renovations like stripping the old wall paper and painting right now. The big renovations, like a new kitchen, will wait for the end of the recession. But even as is, it is a beautiful house.
In the evening, Tom was serving as an usher for the Maundy Thursday service at Saint Mark’s Cathedral. I went to the Eucharist with him while John and Sherry talked and napped back home. We we returned, we had a lovely dinner and watched a documentary about the restoration of the Laura plantation which we had bought after our tour on Monday.
